Politics roundup: Joe Biden announces his run for president. Could he actually win in 2020?

Joe Biden is a well known politician who’s already dominating the polls. But will an old school attitude and past scandals keep him from the White House?

Who’s running now?

At this point, you shouldn’t be too surprised. Joe Biden, former Vice President and retired Senator from Delaware, has announced that he is running for president. Months before the declaration, analysts had already been predicting that Biden would become a front-runner in the already crowded Democratic field. He’d even been dominating polls of prospective candidates, all before officially launching a campaign.

It’s not as if Biden’s ambitions are obscure. He decided not to run for the 2016 elections, reportedly because of the death of his son and, also, urging from former President Obama to back down in favor of Hillary Clinton. Afterwards, he expressed remorse, saying “I regret it every day.” Since then, he’s been telegraphing his intent to run for 2020.

Could Biden defeat the President, whose own reelection campaign is all but certain? And just how much of a player will he be in the next election cycle? He certainly has name recognition, between serving as vice president under Obama and as a long-term lawmaker. If he wins the nomination, the current White House administration would have a lot to fear.

Yet, he’s also been accused of awkward interactions, including touching people without their consent and verbal stumbles. Biden himself has admitted that he is a “gaffe machine”. Most damning could be his handling of Anita Hill’s sexual assault allegations against then-Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas. Biden, who was head of the Senate Judiciary Committee in 1991, helped to diminish her testimony.

In many ways, Biden is something of a relic, hailing from an earlier political era where that whole Anita Hill thing could be ignored for a good, long while, in the hopes that it would go away. Now, in the era of the internet and #MeToo, that’s no longer feasible. Voters can look at both Anita Hill’s case and the more recent and very similar situation of Christine Blasey Ford and come away with a sour taste in their mouths.

Right now, it’s hard to tell how Joe Biden will do in the current political climate. Still, it won’t be utterly shocking if he wins the Democratic primary. At the same time, we shouldn’t discount other front-runners, including Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, and California Senator Kamala Harris, not to mention about a million other hopefuls.

Baltimore mayor’s home raided by federal agents

Better, perhaps, to be a third-string presidential candidate than the mayor of Baltimore, at least right now. That’s because the current city mayor, Catherine Pugh, has seen her homes subjected to a federal raid as part of an ongoing corruption investigation. Agents descended on her homes on Thursday, as well as well as a training center associated with Pugh and Baltimore’s city hall.

The FBI has stated that it is working in cooperation with the IRS. Pugh’s connection to the Healthy Holly children’s books is part of the matter, though not its sole focus. Pugh, who wrote the series, enjoyed a large order from the University of Maryland Medical System, which then planned to distribute it to schools. Pugh was on the board for the very same medical system. Though she has since resigned, the connections and large book order seem suspicious to both citizens and investigators.

Pugh has been on a leave of absence from her post since April 1. She’s cited pneumonia as the cause. Yet, t’s hard to ignore things like an FBI raid on the mayor’s homes and workplace, even when her staff insists that Pugh will return. The fact that Maryland Governor Larry Hogan has publicly asked her to quit is hardly a good look, either.

Supreme Court hears arguments on census citizenship question

Though the census is not the most glamorous thing mandated in the U.S. Constitution, it’s a pretty big deal. Data collected from the decennial census is used to determine distribution of federal money, how many Representatives are granted to each state, and creates a vital snapshot of the U.S. population.

But, should that census also include a question about U.S. citizenship? It hasn’t done so since the 1950 count and has recently generated a lot of controversy. Currently, the Supreme Court is considering this issue in Department of Commerce v. New York, which is expected to settle the matter ahead of the 2020 census.

The case effectively asks two questions: did the Census Bureau overstep its bounds in adding this question, and will a citizenship inquiry prove to be useful to the census? The path to an answer is complex.

The Census Act basically states that the census itself is invasive, and that the Census Bureau should work to gather and analyze other agencies’ data instead. Any changes to the census itself are therefore subject to much scrutiny.

What about accuracy? If the census asked a citizenship question, would non-citizens get spooked and then decline to fill out the form? Critics of the question worry that this will produce an inaccurate headcount and affect how money and federal services are allocated.

There is also the matter of how the question was introduced in the first place. Opponents argue that it was rushed into the document, without proper consideration for its impact. It does seem to fit in with the current White House administration’s focus on illegal immigration. Many wonder if the question could be implemented to further current anti-immigrant agendas.

Congress wants to talk impeachment

Congressional Democrats can’t quite decide if impeachment is worth it. With the release of the censored Mueller report, it’s become clear that White House officials, including the President, are at risk of obstruction of justice charges. Is that grounds for impeachment?

It’s no easy thing. Impeaching a president would require gobs of evidence and a relatively united Congress, both of which seem to be in questionable states at the moment. Then again, for some lawmakers, the Mueller report has made things pretty clear: impeachment must happen. Unless impeachment could go terribly wrong and previously supportive politicians now face a bleak career ahead.

The President has stated that he would turn to the Supreme Court if the House of Representatives were to initiate impeachment proceedings. It is not entirely clear just how the Supreme Court would aid the President in cases such as these.

And, finally, your palate cleanser

Omar ibn Said was born in what is now Senegal, in West Africa, in 1770. He began life as a wealthy young man and an Islamic scholar. However, in his thirties, he was captured and transported to the United States as a slave.

Besides his life story, Omar may be best known for the 14 manuscripts he produced while in captivity, including the autobiographical The Life of Omar Ibn Said, written in 1831. His work is remarkable not only for its volume or for Omar’s considerable intellect, but because it was largely written in Arabic.

Because many of the people around Omar did not speak or write Arabic, including his “owners”, they were unable to to edit his texts. Scholars now consider his writings to be some of the most accurate in the slave narrative canon.

To learn more about Omar’s life, check out his collection in the Library of Congress. You can also read his autobiography and listen to a compelling Smithsonian podcast focusing on his story.